Part of Orders of the Day — Civil Defence Bill. – in the House of Commons at on 12 June 1939.
Sir Stafford Cripps
, Bristol East
May I ask the Minister one question? I am not certain whether there is anything in the point but I would like to put it to the right hon. Gentleman. The local authority which is the fire authority under Clause 54 is not the same local authority as under Clause 73. Under Clause 73, in the new draft, the local authority is given certain powers. The only proviso in regard to getting any authority from anyone else is where there is a highway authority which is an authority other than the local authority. That Clause will not be applicable in regard to the fire authority. The local authority who is responsible for roads but is not the highway authority will be using as it were its own property under Clause 7 (3), and therefore it does not have to give notice to anybody in such cases. In the case of the fire authority it will not be an authority using its own road and it should, in that case, give notice to the local authority who is responsible for the roads. It seems that this point has been overlooked and I hope that the right hon. Gentleman will look into it.
A parliamentary bill is divided into sections called clauses.
Printed in the margin next to each clause is a brief explanatory `side-note' giving details of what the effect of the clause will be.
During the committee stage of a bill, MPs examine these clauses in detail and may introduce new clauses of their own or table amendments to the existing clauses.
When a bill becomes an Act of Parliament, clauses become known as sections.
Ministers make up the Government and almost all are members of the House of Lords or the House of Commons. There are three main types of Minister. Departmental Ministers are in charge of Government Departments. The Government is divided into different Departments which have responsibilities for different areas. For example the Treasury is in charge of Government spending. Departmental Ministers in the Cabinet are generally called 'Secretary of State' but some have special titles such as Chancellor of the Exchequer. Ministers of State and Junior Ministers assist the ministers in charge of the department. They normally have responsibility for a particular area within the department and are sometimes given a title that reflects this - for example Minister of Transport.
